I had put this out of my mind but it is ever so true and certainly defining, regardless of your religious affiliation. To call it unreasonable is the understatement of the year!

When you reflect on this administration in future years – what will be your first thought – mine will be –   Barack Obama will forever be the president who worked diligently to put the gun of government to the heads of the Little Sisters of the Poor, demanding that they either pay to destroy children in the womb or be crushed.
Supreme Court Rules Unanimously in favor of Little Sisters
The Supreme Court unanimously overturned the lower court rulings against the Little Sisters, ordered the government not to fine the Little Sisters, and said the lower courts should provide the government an opportunity “to arrive at an approach going forward that accommodates the petitioners’ religious beliefs.”

The unanimous decision by the Supreme Court was a big win for the Little Sisters. But that does not mean anyone lost. As the Little Sisters have argued all along, the ruling in no way bars the government from providing these services to women who want them as long as the government stops trying to take over the Little Sisters’ health plan. In fact, any alternative delivery method the government chooses would likely be able to be applied—not only to women in religious plans—but to the tens of millions of women in corporate and government plans HHS had previously exempted from the mandate.

President Obama confirmed that the HHS mandate was unnecessary by affirming that the government was still able to providing the mandated services for free to any woman who wanted them even after the Court ruling protected the Little Sisters from complying with the mandate. The President’s willingness to acknowledge that the Little Sisters’ religious objections have never threatened any woman’s access to contraception — that women can get that coverage “right now” and can “continue” to get it even without a takeover of the Little Sisters’ health plan — was the natural outcome of the evolution of the government’s argument in this case.

Following oral arguments, the government admitted to the Court that it could provide the services in ways other than those required in the contraception mandate. It also admitted that the mandate required the Little Sisters’ participation and the use of their plan. This admission meant the Court did not need to decide on the merits of the government’s original argument that its interests should override the Little Sisters’ religious liberty. With the government’s admission, the path was cleared for the Supreme Court to tell the lower courts to reconsider their rulings in light of the government’s admissions and help ensure the government settled “on an approach that accommodates” the Little Sisters’ beliefs.

Although the form a final solution takes will be finalized down the road, the unanimous decision by the Supreme Court to overturn the lower court decisions against the Little Sisters and protect religious providers from fines is a big win. And President Obama’s acknowledgment that the government can continue to provide these services without the Little Sisters and their health plan is a major affirmation of the Little Sisters’ argument for the last five years that there were obviously solutions and never a need for this matter to have to go to Court. In light of the Court’s decision and the President’s statements, the Little Sisters are hopeful the government will quickly decide on a workable solution so the Little Sisters can return their full attention to their mission of serving the elderly poor.

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Sisters Say “Yes” to SCOTUS Solution
Less than a week after the Supreme Court heard the case of the Little Sisters of the Poor (Zubik v. Burwell), the Court made an unprecedented move asking both sides to provide additional arguments about whether the government could find ways to distribute contraceptives without the involvement of religious non-profits and their health plans.

The Little Sisters had been saying since the case began that there were many other ways for the government to meet all of its goals without using the Little Sisters’ plan. So, when the Court asked if there were other ways and if the Little Sisters would accept them, “Yes” was an easy and obvious answer.

The government has many ways to achieve its goals and has admitted as much in its initial briefing and its response to the Supreme Court compromise.

But in its final brief, the government argued that contraceptive-only plans—one of the most obvious solutions—were unworkable. This was a bizarre final argument since the federal government currently provides separate contraceptive-only coverage to millions of people through Medicaid (and even referenced this program in its initial SCOTUS brief defending its decision to exempt tens of millions of women with secular employers from the mandate).

The fact is that there are a lot of solutions available, including contraceptive-only policies. The Supreme Court has recognized this. And the Little Sisters have always believed it is possible to find solutions that work for all sides.

The Little Sisters of the Poor have never sought to prevent the government from providing these services, but have simply asked that the government pick a way that doesn’t force them to deliver services—like the week-after pill—that violate their faith.

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